An aside: you know when you get a feeling about someone you’ve just met? You’re slightly ‘creeped out,’ and you don’t know why… he or she seems fine, looks good but you feel something. Here’s why: The person’s actions and words do not completely match… in some deep way that your subconscious understands. He says X but his eyes say Y; she looks nice but her hands are clenched. What’s creeping you out is this ever so slight inconsistency that subtly screams ‘LIAR.’ To the extreme, the smiling clown who makes you think of John Wayne Gacy.
Back to Yahoo.
So the new CEO, Marissa Mayer, has her baby.
Congratulations. Then announces she’s taking just a two-week maternity leave
and back to the office.
I’ve nothing to say about the parental wisdom of that
choice.
But from a corporate/brand point of view, she should be
fired ASAP. Why? She obviously does not understand nor does she believe the
essential philosophy of Yahoo. How, then, can she be its CEO?
Fire her today and put out this story:
The Board of Yahoo has
terminated Marissa Mayer for the following reasons:
1. Her insistence on returning to work after two weeks maternity leave is against the corporate spirit of Yahoo. We are an employee-centered organization and we cannot condone our CEO setting such a precedent… one that will be used by unenlightened companies to force parents into quickly returning to work.
On the contrary, we encourage extended maternity leave as a time for parents to bond with their children and enjoy the blessings of bringing a new life into the world.
2. Just as important is Ms. Mayer’s disregard for the primary philosophy of Yahoo. We are an information company built on the idea that users have access to all the data, news and entertainment they need to do their jobs and enjoy their lives. We are also founded on the principle of portability, that is, no matter where or when you need information to do your job you can count on Yahoo. Without this core belief, Yahoo would be nothing more than an entertainment hub and not a source of vital business and marketing information – not to mention being a primary collaborative link for international commerce.
Ms. Mayer’s
insistence on returning to work belies our structure. In essence, her actions
call into question our basic philosophy. Logically, she’s saying that she can’t
access all the information she needs; she can’t do serious work with Yahoo; and
the idea of portable, accessible information is a lie.
Judging
by Ms. Mayer’s actions, we can only conclude that she does not at all believe
in the promise of Yahoo.
This
being the case, she is terminated immediately.
(Am I the only one who noticed this glaring,
amazing, ignorant inconsistency?)
